Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns What is the best 12ga. pump?

I've been looking at pump shotguns in perticuler win. 1300, rem. 870, moss 500, and brownings pump. I would like feelings you have on the differnce be tween theese gun. I would use it mostly for turky, deer and non-compitition seet. I was wondering if any one had had problems with there guns that may make me reconsider the brand i purches.<BR>, thanks

in perticuler i was wundering if any one had experiesc with the win. 1300. i know litle about wincheters pump guns. I was thinking of geting a gun that i could get interchangibel barils so i could use a rifled baril for slugs.<BR>, thatnks for any imput

I have a Winchester 1300, and I like it quite a bit. I especially like the safety in the front of the trigger guard instead of the back. Most folks on these boards talk up the Remington 870 though. I can't say, because I never had one.

Im just the opposite. Ive never owned a 1300 but I sure cant complain about any 870 Ive ever owned and Ive had several.<P>Duck hunting is my favorite type of hunting and Im pretty hard on equipment. I need a gun that can get wet and muddy and still work. 870's do that for me.<P>Oh sure, youre probably gonna have guys reply who had one and it wouldnt shoot or jammed or say something else bad about em, but they make a pretty interesting claim on their website. <P>They say the 870 is the most popular shotgun ever made and that they have sold over 6 million of them. If you made 6 million of anything, youre bound to have problems with a few. <P>Most of them work just like you want em too though.<P>------------------<BR> <A HREF="http://TheSouthernOutdoorsman.com" TARGET=_blank>TheSouthernOutdoorsman.com</A>

I have had some of all 4 of these, and some others as well. I still have a couple 870s and a BPS12. <P>The 870 is the toughest, most forgiving shotgun ever made. It will digest anything you feed it and their repair record is incredible. I cannot even begin to guess how many cases of ammo I have cycled through my oldest 870, but the only problem it has ever had was a firing pin that broke at a flat machined out for a retainer pin. Every once in a while it would line up wrong and the gun would not fire. Took an embarrassingly long time to figure out what was wrong simply because it so seldom failed to shoot, in spite of the broken pin.<P>That said, I despise the trigger guard safety, partly because it is not a firing pin stop, but mostly because of where it is. I make a top-tang safety for mine that does the same thing as the trigger stop safety, but gets actuated from the right place. Same thing works great on the 760/7600.<P>The BPS is a tough shotgun also, and the down ejecting design is much more companion-friendly in a duck blind. Dropping the shells at your feet makes them easier for reloaders to pick up. It also is the only way to go for left-handed shooters.<P>The Mossbergs do not feel right to me, opinion only. The Winchesters just do not cut it since they dropped the model 12, again my opinion.<BR>art<P>------------------<BR>Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

The Winchester Model 1300 has got to be the smoothest shucking pumpgun on the market. I have a lot of hunting buddies who have them and all swear by them. I can't imagine you would be disappointed with a Winchester Model 1300.

I have looked at pichers of compleatly taken down win. 1300's and rem 870 and the magor diffence seemed to be the bolt. i know that the winchesters bolt makes a faster smother stroke but i was wundering if anyone knows if it is as dipendible as the 870.<P>I can tell that the winchester fans are out numberd by the 870 fans but that may be because they have been making the same dipendible guns the same way for many years now. The people who have had most of the magor gus and have a fovorit have the most impact on me. <BR>Thanks for the info you've given!<P>one other consern is the barlils, the winchester and moss cost much less that rem. and brownings. Dose any one know if this is one of those you pay for what you get type things, or there is just a higher mark up on some?<BR><p>[This message has been edited by I Need guns (edited May 24, 2001).]

Sitka deer and I are pretty much in complete agreement on this topic, although I have no problem with the trigger guard safety arrangement, since I started out shooting one in that position. And, as someone who has run, been president of, and wasted a lot of my kids(before I had them)inheritance on<BR>shotgun ranges, I feel a couple of comments are in order. First, I have seen literally dozens of guns go off for no apparent reason, most probably through human error, but some(I had one) for mechanical problems. Fortunately, at least while I was there, with no injuries, other than a bruised ego, after we discussed the proper way to handle a weapon for a while.<P>The logical and only conclusion after you see this is that safeties are an aid, not an answer. The answer is to ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. And, if that is impossible, like at a shoot, you ALWAYS keep it empty with the action open until you can control the field of fire.<P>As to different pump guns, of the currently manufactured guns, the 870 leads the pack as far a handling and reliability goes IMO. We had various hunters show up from time to time over the years, before bird season, usually, and they had a broad selection of moderately priced pumps. I honestly don't ever recall an 870 breaking and some of them looked like they had been through 3 wars and 2 disasters. Louisiana duck hunting is tough on guns if you get with the program. As far as the rest, the Mossbergs seemed to hold up fairly well, with some breakages, and the Winchesters---of that time, not sure of model designation, but not the M12, obviously---broke regularly. The BPS, which is a direct copy of the Ithaca 37, is reliable and a good gun for the money. Probably habit, but I prefer the way you can load and unload a 870.<P>But, I understand that the 1300 is a new design and I have not had any experience with or around one, since children and life have restricted my clay activities in the last few years. It might be ok, but for the same money I would choose an 870 or the best bargain in Gundom, the 870 express magnum 3 1/2inch at Walmarts for about $275. It ain't pretty, but if you need a using gun, and take it out and shoot a box through it, and it works ok, then it will use for a long while without problems almost for sure. <P>As far as the barrels go, get one with screw in chokes and that problem is solved, except for true slug barrels which probably need to be a separate system to be most accurate. So, IMO, unless you are buying a used gun without tubes, the cost of barrels is a moot point. And, no, I don't think you get what you pay for in barrels IN THIS CASE, a commercial moderately priced weapon's shotgun barrel is about as low tech as you can get in the barrel area, and one is pretty much like another. Good Shooting.

I found a nice setup on rem.'s website.Its a 870 express super mag. combo. It has a 26", 3 1/2" chamer, rem choke barrel and a 20", 3" chaber rifled barrel. The sugestid retails is $516 do you think that this is a good perches? the web site below is the gun that i have menchond.<P><BR><A HREF="http://www.remington.com/firearms/shotguns/870SMCMB.HTM" TARGET=_blank>http://www.remington.com/firearms/shotguns/870SMCMB.HTM</A>

Well, it is the same gun as Walmart is selling for $275 minus the slug barrel. It depends on what you can buy it for as a set at a dealer, or what you could buy the slug barrel for seperately. Pretty simple calculation, and the real question is do you need a slug barrel? Only you know the answer to that. But it is a good choice for an all around gun.

i gess that i will now go to check the price of 870's and barils at local shops and the mall-mart. In cabelas there factry replacement barrrels are about 175 for a rifeld one so wallmarts price is a impovment.<P>Do you think that a used gun would be much of a risk? How much dose it take to ware out a 870? <BR>,Thanks for the edvice!

No, with 870s I don't think used is a big risk, but there is always some possibility of getting a lemon. I really don't think you could find that gun (3 1/2 ") used very easily and if you did I doubt that you would save much money. Maybe $50 and I would doubt that the used potential wear and problems are worth that, unless you just find a pristine example somewhere. What I am trying to say is that I think the Walmart deal is hard to beat and unless you get lucky you probably should go that way. And no, I don't own any Walmart stock.

I have 3 Mossbergs. Nothing against the other brands but the Mossbergs fit me, have never given me a hint of trouble, have a top tang safty, and are inexpensive.<P>The most important thing is to buy one that FITS YOU.

Let me back up here a minute, I strongly support local gun dealers and think you should too and I use a friend of mine's shop every chance I get, even if it costs me a few more bucks, because I know if there are problems he will help me out.<P>But, where I live, out in the sticks, there really are no local gun shops, more's the pity, and as far as common guns go, if you want one locally Walmarts is one of your few choices, and, because of their buying power they are very hard for a local gun dealer to compete with. I had no use for an 870 a couple of years back, but that price on that gun was too good to resist. I found, somewhat to my surprise, that I can point and shoot it very well on ducks, and don't mind using it for a stick to hold me up in the mud if the need arises, which it does where I hunt. Any local dealer who has any sense does not try to compete on Walmarts advertised models, they just stock better or other models or different brands. Most times Walmart can sell it for what the dealer can buy it for. Not much profit there for him, obviously.<P>What I am trying to say is, if you can buy the same gun for a few bucks more at some local guys shop it would be money well spent IMO. good luck. CAT

I started shooting registered targets in 1969 with Remington 870 TC and after 175,000 registered targets (singles, doubles and hdcp) I moved up to a "better gun for doubles". I never had a problem with the Remington and it shoots as good today as it did then.<P>I also have and use a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag for duck and turkey hunting and am pleased with it as well.<P>If money isn't a problem look at a Bennali. They have a model that when a switch is in one position it is a pump in another position it is a semi-auto in the neighborhood of $700.00.<P>I prefer to buy my firearms at a local gun shop if possible.<P>Wall <BR>

Bennelis have another nice feature which is the stock shims to adjust the stock drop. It allows you to adjust the drop to exactly what works for you, leaving length of pull as the only other variable to worry about.<BR>art<P>------------------<BR>Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

Are you guys talking about BENELLIs? LOL<P>I haven't had one, but have heard one good report on the pump, and their autos are solid performers, one of the few,along with Berettas, that usually hold up under the extended pounding of South American dove shooting.

Are you the spell-check monitor this morning? I think your services are more urgently needed on other posts;-)<BR>art<P>------------------<BR>Life is too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

I'm sarry about my spelling, I'm a rilly bad speller and typer.<P>----------------------<BR>life last to long to pay for a "pritty gun" espshaly with gas prices so high<P>I'll probaly check out a bunch of laocal shopes on Saturday & the loacal wall mart<BR>there is several stors with good suletion of used guns with in a 1 hour radous of my house. <BR> This would be my first real gun. The way things work in the massachusets govnment tick me off. I'm not glad that i live in mass for several govonmetal resens. I'm now 16 and i've spent along time to get my firearm licens. and a cant even buy anything being under 18, i just need it to hunt with a gun. Well this got a bit off topic.<BR>any way thank all of you who gave me advice<p>[This message has been edited by I Need guns (edited May 25, 2001).]

I bought my son the 870 Super Mag at Macks Prairie Wings in Stuttgart, Arkansas two duck seasons ago for $269. The guy I bought it from told me they had ordered 600 of those guns just before duck season opened and they only had about 50 left.<P>Im sure theyve ordered more since then but I dont have a clue what the price is now either.<P>As for buying used guns, Ive been lucky I guess. I go out of my way sometimes to buy used guns instead of new and havent had any problems yet.<P>------------------<BR> <A HREF="http://TheSouthernOutdoorsman.com" TARGET=_blank>TheSouthernOutdoorsman.com</A>